Culture

Must SeeIt's Time for Outdoor Cinema!(7/9 to 7/21, dusk) Summer in Seattle means outdoor cinema, so pull your picnic blanket up to any of the neighborhood series. Here are a few of our flick picks for the week: Office Space (7/9) at Redhook Brewery’s Moonlight Cinema series in Woodinville and a Christmas-in-July showing of Elf (7/10) at Fremont Outdoor Cinema.

The month of August tops the chart for having the most birthdays, and it's just a few hot weekends away—do you know what you're getting for your August birthday girl/boy? This whole "birthday month" thing may be news to some of us, but many local businesses have been privy to it and are offering up a few ideas to solve any birthday-gifting woes.

Want to try your hand at some observational drawing? Gage Academy of Art, an independent art school that trains students in the principles of drawing, painting and sculpting, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with free pop-up events where you'll draw a different scenic view, live model or object to your heart's content. The ongoing summer event--known as 25 Jams--is a version of the school's annual Drawing Jam in which it invites budding artists to draw from a live model.

Slip n' Slide: Mark your calendars--your summer is about to become waaaay more fun thanks to the folks at Slide the City. Seattle PI reports that the company is bringing its traveling 1,000 ft. water slide to Queen Anne on August 16 (!!!). The slide will be laid out on Mercer between 4th and Warren. Reservations are required to slide; organizers say you should book your spot ASAP so you don't miss out on the fun.

When Michael “Mikey” Augusta found himself drawn to Seattle’s thriving honky-tonk scene 11 years ago, he realized he had one big problem: He couldn’t dance. He started taking West Coast swing lessons, but quit after seven sessions—he found the formal moves and set-in-stone steps too contrived. “I’m just not a ‘proper’ person,” says the Wedgwood resident, 42, who grew up in the Cleveland suburbs and moved to Seattle in 2000.

Do you ever miss school? Okay, maybe you don't miss geometry proofs and five-paragraph essays. But what if you could take a class this summer on cheese-making or science fiction writing? Non-credit classes for adults are hugely popular in Seattle this summer.

There’s an interesting new sport catching on in the Northwest called footgolf.
One part soccer and one part golf, the game is played on an 18-hole course and the objective is to a kick soccer ball into 21-inch hole, hopefully under par.
The holes are shortened (so the pars are around 4 or 5, not 10 or 15). And the game is played with regulation #5 soccer balls which are typically available to rent at the course.

People from far and wide flock to Seattle during our sunniest season to stroll through Pike Place Market, or head down to the waterfront to snap a selfie at Pier 59 or even visit our tank-escaping friend, the Giant Pacific Octopus at Seattle Aquarium.

Must Cool DownSymphony Performs Live Score to March of the PenguinsWednesday (7/8, 7:30 p.m.) Flee the heat for cooler climes—at least as depicted in the movies. The Seattle Symphony will perform the original score from the documentary March of the Penguins while those precious flightless birds frolic on screen. Bonus: Leading the musicians is none other than Hollywood music director Jeffrey Schindler, who originally conducted the score for the film.

Record Temperatures: In case you didn't notice, last month was really, really hot. So hot, in fact, that KING 5 reports it was the hottest June in Seattle ever. The National Weather Service says that the average monthly temperature at SeaTac was 78.88 degrees--3 degrees warmer than the record high from 1992.